The 2012 NFL season is FINALLY here, and replacement referees and concussion lawsuits aside, I am most certainly ready for some football. My latest post for the Today Show has a local beer for every team in the league, many of which were recommended by the readers here at B&WB.

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We had a lot of great suggestions submitted, but unfortunately, I couldn’t use them all over at Today – the limit was one per team, and many teams received multiple recommendations (especially those in cities with strong beer scene – coincidence? I think not!).

To make sure everyone’s submissions gets a little limelight, I’ve posted the entire list below. Enjoy checking some of the awesome reader recommendations, and have a happy season – I hope your team wins the Super Bowl!*

AFC East

Buffalo Bills

HopDevil: Ithaca Beer Co. Cascazilla

Notes: It’s a little over the 100 mile radius but well worth it. Great malt character into a wonderful hop finish. Little over the 6% but you need a little extra as a Bills Fan. If only the Bills could finish as well as the hops.

Notes: A Belgian White from the Portland, Maine brewery is a safe bet on Sundays. The ABV isn’t too high (5%), so you can have a few while watching Brady & Co. try to return to the Super Bowl. A little fruity with some faint lemongrass. A world-class beer.

(New England alternative: Baxter Stowaway IPA. A full and hoppy IPA reminiscent of the west coast IPA’s. Delicious. And it’s in a can!)

Dan F: Sam Adams Octoberfest

I’m a bit new to the blog but nothing says Boston Beer more than Sam Adams and Octoberfest is consistently the best seasonal brew in the city, much like the Patriots are consistently the best team in the AFC East. http://creativefidelity.wordpress.com/

Brett: Gandhi Bot by New England Brewing

This Double IPA will help you celebrate the return of the “Double Trouble” of Tight Ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski to long term contracts. Light in color with a citrusy hop finish, at 8.8% ABV this one breaks the 3rd rule, however like most Patriots fans, I think I’d rather NOT remember the 4th quarter of last season’s Super Bowl, so this beer is the perfect companion!!!

Matt: Maine Beer Co., Lunch IPA

Notes: This is one of my new favorite beers. Amazingly balanced and drinkable. A small brewery in Portland, Maine that makes some incredible beers.

New York Jets

None

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

Megan: DuClaw Brewing Company

Cincinnati Bengals

None

Cleveland Browns

Chad – Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

A porter that all other porters should be compared to. Superb blend of coffee and chocolate flavors to go along with a velvety texture. Each sip makes you smile and warms you from the inside. You’ll need that to cope with the Browns’ offense.

Alternate: Blackout Stout. More than 9% ABV, for those games you just know you won’t want to deal with the fourth quarter. No more quick-snap TDs given up to the Bruce Gradkowski. Nor 115+ yards given up to two different running backs for the Texans. Or overtime losses to the Cardinals.

thebeerfan.com

Stephen Agrees: You will need several of these to watch an entire Browns game, but a beer this good is a nice consolation prize.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Simmons Lauderdale:

1 Church Brewworks IPA
2 Penn Brewery Kiaser Pils

AFC South

Houston Texans

Joe – shiner bock

Lance Armstrong’s favorite beer is my favorite too. Tastes like a German beer with Lonestar flavor.

Indianapolis Colts

None

Jacksonville Jaguars

None

Tennessee Titans

ScottG: Yazoo City Hop Project

Notes: The recipe (or roster) is never the same twice. It’s never bad but some times (or seasons), it’s awesome. Other times, it makes you think it should be better than it is. Let’s ignore that the Titans can just absolutely crush your soul in ways a revolving recipe beer never can.

AFC West

Denver Broncos

Alex Karkins – Great Divide Hoss Rye Lager

Notes: Spicy Rye and moderate hops make this a great beer for Fall. Now that Tim Tebow is out of town, it’s OK to have a few!

Will – Avery’s Joe’s Pilsner

Notes: A crisp lager perfect for Joe Football Fan to drink while watching Peyton Manning and the Broncos decimate the AFC West.

Other: I also agree with Alex on anything from Great Divide that falls within the ABV requirements. You’re right Jim, there could have been any number of beers to recommend from our area.

Chris Bruns: the Oskar Blues/Sun King collaboration Chaka would fit for the Denver Broncos: something great from Indiana influencing Colorado like Peyton moving from Indy to Denver.

Another option for the Broncos: anything of the ”Demons of Ale” series from Avery Brewing i.e. Samael’s, The Beast, or Mephistopheles. Why? Because the team that cuts uber-Christian Tim Tebow will surely burn in hell. None of the mentioned fit the ”Around 6% ABV” criteria, they’re all considerably stronger. Then again, Peyton has a considerably stronger arm than Timmy. http://www.beerincolorado.blogspot.com

AJ: Odell Brewing IPA

Notes: Brewed by one of the oldest breweries in Colorado, Odell’s IPA not only bears the beautiful Broncos colors (and an Elephant bucking like a bronco), It’s brewed with Rocky Mountain snow melt and boasts an amazing hop aroma and flavor that is bold, but not bitter, and has an ABV of 7% (the same number as legendary quarterback, John Elway)

notes: The nicely balanced combination of subtle sweetness and bitter mirrors the Chiefs football season. It starts with sweet expectations only to be countered by bitter results.

Oakland Raiders

Kevin: Trumer Pils

Notes: Coming in at just under 5% ABV this Berkeley brewed “import” is full of flavor where it will distract you from the Raiders losing and has a crispness that will keep you from getting beer fatigued. Also it has a silver label…

San Diego Chargers

None

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys

None

New York Giants

Mark – Sixpoint Autumnation

Notes: Aptly named for Eli’s tosses to Nicks/Cruz combo often result in 6 points! Also a great beer in bomber cans with pumpkin and spice notes, perfect for football season.

Philadelphia Eagles

Flying Fish Exit 4

The Alemonger -Notes: Versatile like the Eagles offense. Spicy, complex and citrusy with a warming finish for cold tailgate parties. More interesting companion to a Cheesesteak or wings and pairs well with brats and onions.

Reminds fans of that NY team that rents stadium space up the Turnpike that Eagles fans drink to a higher standard!

Alex Karkins – Beer: Victory Hop Devil

Notes: A very malty IPA, in the East Coast style, balanced by floral hops. Takes the sting out of seeing Michael Vick getting crushed in the pocket or defenders running into one another

G-LO: Beer: Victory Prima Pils

Notes: Success in football, much like success in life, is all about versatility and balance. The Victory Prima Pils is about as versatile and well balanced as a beer can get. Crisp and refreshing enough to drink on its own, yet flavorful and well balanced enough to stand up to a wide variety of game day vittles. Bring on the Chili and Nachos!

Brendan: Boxcar Brown Ale

Notes: More depth than you’d suspect, smooth, and not at all bitter, which makes it a nice contrast to the football team. Also, it uses Fuggles hops, which often becomes a suitable nickname for the Eagles, especially with our regional dialect.

Boxcar Brown Ale is 5% ABV so no many how many scoring opportunities get wasted, you won’t. It goes well with BBQ, pork, and beef so it’s perfect for tailgating.

Bob Noone: Although there are a lot of great regional beers around Philly – especially my favorite style – IPA’s (big fan of imperial ales like Victory’s Hop Hazzard) you have to go with Yards Brewing Company Philadelphia Pale Ale. A good session beer, about 4.5 ABV – light and fruity, with nice hop bitterness. Plus, the name just goes great with Philly sports!

Washington Redskins

NFC North

Chicago Bears

None

Detroit Lions

Josh Wolf – Atwater’s Vanilla Java Porter (2 miles from Ford Field!)

Notes: When it gets cold in Michigan and football is on, I want a dark, vanilla-roasted beer. And a La-z-boy with four or five cupholders so I don’t have to move.

Green Bay Packers

Bear Down – Miller Lite
Notes: Miller Lite and the Green Bay Packers, a marriage made in heaven. Overblown, adored by fat people, and just so easy to dislike.

(Don’s rebuttal “Haters gonna hate!”)

Minnesota Vikings

Jerry Carlson: Summit Extra Pale Ale
The finest ale available in the states.

NFC South

Atlanta Flacons

None

Carolina Panthers

CraigT126: Carolina Panthers

Beer: Foothills Brewing Company’s Carolina Blonde

Notes: Just like the Panthers, Carolina Blonde is named to identify itself with both of the Carolinas. I wonder how many football fans outside the region know the Panthers play in Charlotte, where Carolina Blonde was born (it is now made in Winston-Salem but widely available across the state). Blonde is a light easy-drinking, but well crafted cream ale with only a touch of hops, so it is accessible to both craft and non-craft beer drinkers.

Daniel: Carolina Panthers

Beer: The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery’s Mecktoberfest

Notes: Charlotte is a transient city, filled with fans of opposing teams like the Steelers, Redskins & Cowboys — but that’s changing. Just as the city is beginning to truly embrace the Cam Newton-led Panthers, so too are they embracing local beers like Olde Mecklenburg’s Mecktoberfest, which signals the coming of fall and football.

Brian: Hoppyum IPA from Foothills brewery in Winston Salem
Notes: IPA’s go best with chicken wings and other football food. This one has plenty of hop flavor but doesn’t peel your taste buds off, so you can still taste the dip.

A little further then 100 miles and you have Fullsteam brewery’s Working Man’s Lunch in Durham, which taste like RC cola and Moon Pie’s. What could be more North Carolina then that?

New Orleans Saints

None

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

None

NFC West

Arizona Cardinals

None

San Francisco 49ers

Diss Content: Bear Republic, Pete Brown – Tribute Ale

Notes: What better way to enjoy the Niners, in California, than with a six pack of Bear Republic? But remember the CRV (California Redemption Value) so you can ‘return’ your bottles and get a ‘quarterback’. There is no ‘substitution’ for stocking up; otherwise you may find yourself ‘running back’ to the store. The best beer is always the ‘first down’ with you trading your empty, to get a ‘fullback’. ‘Rush’ to your ‘spot’ and enjoy that Pete’s Brown Ale you’re ‘holding’. Appreciate the ‘formation’ of bubbles which constitute the ‘head; coach’ others to experience this fine craft beer. Be sure to ‘handoff’ a bottle or two, which will encourage others ‘overtime’, to ‘pass’ on the same ‘draft choice’.

Kevin: Hoppy but not too hoppy. Easy to put down 3 or 4 and not be overwhelmed. Of course at 7% you may start to feel it.

Other: also from 21A are Hell or High Watermelon, light and fruity – actually makes Hefe’s interesting (and features the Golden Gate Bridge) or Bitter American, a sessionable Pale Ale (but almost an IPA at 46 IBUs) clocking in at a binge-worthy 4.4% ABV

Seattle Seahawks

None

St. Louis Rams

None

Off Topic:

Scott & Korie Harris: Does not matter on the NFL team. I am a NASCAR fan myself but, Raspberry Wheat home made is the best.

17 Comments on “The Full List of Reader Beers for NFL Kickoff 2012”

I would like to put a write in candidate for Chicago. Metropolitan Brewing Dynamo Copper Lager. A smooth lager with nice carmely notes of malt and a hoppy presence that doesn’t take over. Forgot to post the first time. A bomber of Bourbon County Stout is nice but then it’s tough to make it to half time

I picked Moerlein’s Barbarossa, because of the ginger king on the label (reminded me of Dalton) and the fact that he’ll be resurrected when “the ravens fly no more” which holds true for the Bengals as well…

I’m a big fan (as you know – though I don’t comment as often as I’d like – or write on my own blog these days thanks to any number of really good and really absurd reasons) of your writing and your points of view (usually) but I have to reconsider now that you included my Flying Fish submission for the Iggles craft beer. 😉

The San Francisco 49ers must be Anchor Steam Beer otherwise there ought to be a penalty flag on the bar. Steam beer started in San Francisco in ’49, and 49ers is the name of the team. I’m blaming the replacement refs for the omission of San Francisco’s iconic brew.